General news

• Pregnant teenage model killed by a train during railway photoshoot in Texas

  16-03-2017 23:56
  
  An aspiring model has died after being hit by a train in Texas on what was her first photoshoot.Authorities said Thompson was standing between two sets of tracks on Friday in Navasota when a BNSF Railway train approached.Hakamie Stevenson told The Eagle newspaper that her daughter, Fredzania Thompson, attended Blinn College in Bryan, Texas, but wanted to put her education on hold to begin modeling.
  
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• Iraq 'witch hunt' lawyer Phil Shiner could avoid paying debts

  16-03-2017 23:39
  
  The disgraced lawyer who led the “witch hunt” against Iraq war veterans that cost the British taxpayer £100 million has declared himself bankrupt, meaning he could now avoid paying his debts.Phil Shiner, who was struck off as a solicitor for dishonesty and is now facing a criminal investigation, sold his home to his two daughters just a few weeks before applying for bankruptcy.Shiner, 60, was made insolvent on Tuesday just 48 hours after filling in an online form with the
  
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• Theresa May tells Nicola Sturgeon: No new Scottish independence referendum for six years

  16-03-2017 23:31
  
  Theresa May will frustrate Nicola Sturgeon’s hopes of a second independence referendum for as long as six years as she draws the battle lines for her defence of the “precious, precious Union”.The Prime Minister decided Scotland should not be given a vote until Scots have seen how Brexit works out, and will call Nicola Sturgeon’s bluff by challenging her to prove at the next Scottish elections in 2021 her claim that she has a “cast iron” mandate for a new poll.
  
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• Scottish independence would ruin our Brexit deal, says Theresa May

  16-03-2017 23:19
  
  Britain will only get the Brexit deal it needs with Scotland “pulling together” with the rest of the country, Theresa May will say at the Conservative Spring Forum on Friday.Speaking in Cardiff, Ms May will say: “The coming negotiations with the EU will be vital for everyone in the United Kingdom.“We need to do so united, as one United Kingdom, all pulling together to get the best outcome.
  
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• Donald Trump's budget: 'less money on people overseas and more money on people at home'

  16-03-2017 23:14
  
  President Donald Trump has called for a dramatic reordering of America's priorities in his first budget, with "less money on people overseas and more money on people at home".Calling it the "America First" plan, Mr Trump's $1.1 trillion (approx. £890 billion) proposal is designed to strike fear in the hearts of the United States' enemies, whilst making good on his election pledge to "drain the swamp" of government bureaucracy in Washington."We are absolutely reducing funding to the UN and
  
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• Nicola Sturgeon: Move to block second Scottish independence referendum would be ‘democratic outrage’

  16-03-2017 23:06
  
  Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she is "determined" to have a second independence referendum, adding a move by Theresa May to block it would be “democratic outrage”.The Prime Minister's position was confirmed by Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who said Ms Sturgeon's timetable for a referendum - between autumn 2018 and spring 2019 - would be "rejected conclusively".Ms Sturgeon wants a referendum to coincide with the conclusion of the Brexit talks - the p
  
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• Lord Heseltine tells Theresa May: 'There was no need to sack me'

  16-03-2017 23:03
  
  Former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine has told Theresa May he does not believe it was necessary for her to sack him from his advisory roles for rebelling over Brexit.In a letter to the Prime Minister, Lord Heseltine said Mrs May had “every right” to dismiss him, but suggested that he should have been given the same leeway to dissent from the party line on Europe as was granted to Tory ministers during the EU referendum.Replying to a March 13 letter in which Mrs May explained th
  
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• Philip Hammond's allies warn Theresa May she will damage her authority if she sacks him

  16-03-2017 23:00
  
  Philip Hammond's allies have warned Theresa May that sacking him would deal a "crushing" blow to her authority and claimed he is the victim of a Eurosceptic plot.The Chancellor was on Wednesday forced into a humiliating Budget reversal after the Prime Minister scrapped his plans to increase national insurance contributions for the self-employed.Conservative MPs said that the fiascos had been "hugely damaging" to Mr Hammond's authority, with one saying he was "on probation".
  
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• NHS plan for 7,500 GP practices to become 1,500 'superhubs' revealed

  16-03-2017 23:00
  
  Thousands of GP practices are under threat of closure, with 7,500 surgeries to become 1,500 “superhubs” under Government plans to expand opening times.David Mowat told MPs: “We are finding that things are working better with GP practices being put into hubs of 35,000 to 40,000 people.“We are migrating over time from a position where we have 7,500 GP practices to one with something more like 1,500 super-hubs,” the minister said.
  
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• Brexit risks ‘new dark phase’ of cyber crime, warns Britain's most senior EU official

  16-03-2017 22:48
  
  The most senior British EU official has spoken out to warn of the need for strong security cooperation in Europe, just days before Theresa May triggers Brexit.Writing exclusively for The Independent, EU commissioner Sir Julian King said it was vital for nations to work closely to combat international cyber attacks, terrorists and hostile states and “be prepared for whatever the future holds”.The European security chief’s words comes less than 24 hours after the Queen signed off
  
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• Lord Heseltine says he is 'not surprised' Brexiteers in Government don't know what they are doing

  16-03-2017 22:45
  
  Lord Heseltine has said he is “not surprised” that leading Brexiteers in government appear not to understand what they are doing, in a thinly-veiled attack on senior Eurosceptics promoted to Theresa May’s Cabinet.While not naming Boris Johnson, David Davis and Liam Fox, the Tory peer said it was right that those who campaigned to leave the EU be put in charge of Government departments to ensure they take responsibility for the difficult decisions ahead.
  
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• Somali pirates release oil tanker and crew without ransom

  16-03-2017 22:44
  
  Somali pirates who seized a Comoros-flagged oil tanker earlier this week after five years without a major hijacking in the region have released the ship and its crew without conditions, officials said late on Thursday.Security official Ahmed Mohamed told The Associated Press the pirates disembarked the ship, which was heading to Bossaso port, the region's commercial hub, with its eight Sri Lankan crew members aboard.Mohamed said the release occurred after negotiations by local elders and officia
  
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• Vince Cable warns students that Brexit will do 'terrible damage' to UK's universities

  16-03-2017 22:33
  
  Brexit will do "terrible damage" to the UK's universities, Sir Vince Cable has warned.The former business secretary told students at Glasgow University that their generation would be "blighted by the consequences of Brexit" which would put funding and schemes such as Erasmus at risk.
  
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• Butterfly enthusiast caught, killed and planned to sell endangered Large Blue species, court hears

  16-03-2017 22:28
  
  A butterfly enthusiast caught, killed and planned to sell endangered British species at a National Trust garden, a court heard.Philip Cullen, the first person to be prosecuted under 'obscure' wildlife conservation laws, has been convicted of capturing and killing specimens of the Large Blue - Britain's rarest butterfly.The 57-year-old scrambled over locked gates and used a child's net to capture the globally endangered butterflies at two protected sites.
  
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• Northampton couple convicted of nearly 100 child sex offences

  16-03-2017 22:23
  
  Nicholas Taylor, who used crack cocaine to force children to carry out sex acts.A husband and wife from Northampton have been convicted of 94 drug and sexual offences perpetrated against a group of children, with some as young as 11, over the course of 10 years.Nicholas Taylor, 47, was found guilty of 62 charges, while 42-year-old Joan Taylor was found guilty of 22 offences, with their charges including rape, indecency with a child, and supply of class A drugs.
  
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• Matthew Perry once beat up Justin Trudeau

  16-03-2017 22:15
  
  Friends star Matthew Perry has revealed he once beat up Justin Truseau, the Canadian prime minister.The actor has recalled being at school with Mr Trudeau, whose father, Pierre, was the leader of the country at the time.The actor and Mr Trudeau both attended Rockcliffe Park elementary, a public school located in a wealthy area of Ottawa.
  
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• Explosive device 'left at main New York City bus terminal'

  16-03-2017 22:06
  
  A man left a crude explosive device in a briefcase at a New York City bus terminal, but it did not detonate, police have said.
  
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• Sean Spicer says British intelligence could have been involved in Barack Obama's 'wiretapping of Trump Tower'

  16-03-2017 21:44
  
  The White House has repeated a claim that Britain's spy agency was used by Barack Obama to spy on Trump Tower, "to make sure there were no American fingerprints on it".Sean Spicer, White House press secretary, repeated a claim - first made by a commentator on Fox News - on Thursday as he attempted to provide evidence for President Donald Trump's belief that Trump Tower was surveilled by the former president.
  
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• Scottish independence: May has sealed fate of UK, says Sturgeon

  16-03-2017 21:33
  
  Nicola Sturgeon accused Theresa May of sealing the fate of the United Kingdom after the prime minister rejected her demand for a second Scottish independence referendum before the Brexit talks conclude.The first minister said May’s stance was “completely outrageous and unacceptable”, hours after the prime minister had insisted that “now is not the time” for the referendum that the SNP had hoped to stage between autumn 2019 and spring 2019.Sturgeon said on Thursday:
  
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• 'You have changed your mind on Europe, I have not', Lord Heseltine says in letter to Theresa May

  16-03-2017 21:32
  
  Lord Heseltine, the former Cabinet minister sacked as a Government adviser after speaking in favour of amendments to the Article 50 bill, has sent a stinging parting shot to Theresa May.The Conservative peer also accused her of ignoring an agreement that the Brexit argument was so important that MPs and peers should be free to speak their mind on Europe.In a letter sent on Thursday, in reply to a letter from Mrs May that removed him as a Government adviser, Lord Heseltine told the Prime Minister
  
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• Tories condemn May over chancellor's national insurance humiliation

  16-03-2017 21:29
  
  Moderate Conservative backbenchers have rallied behind Philip Hammond and said Theresa May should have done more to defend his plan to increase national insurance contributions for the self-employed.The chancellor ditched his plan put forward in the budget on 8 March after a public backlash from some Tories and private concerns among cabinet ministers.Another cited critical briefings against the chancellor in the media, saying: “It shows how vengeful she is.
  
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• Pentonville prison break: Man charged with assisting escaped convict

  16-03-2017 20:59
  
  A man has been charged in relation to a prison escape from Pentonville jail.Scott O'Reilly, 48, of Shepherd's Lane, east London, has been charged with assisting an offender, the Metropolitan Police said.Police launched a manhunt after Matthew Baker and James Whitlock escaped from HMP Pentonville on November 7 2016.
  
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• Sky News journalists narrowly avoid Mosul bomb blast

  16-03-2017 20:39
  
  Three Sky News journalists were just metres away from a bomb blast in west Mosul. 
  
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• Number of patients forced to endure mixed sex wards rises 50 per cent

  16-03-2017 20:36
  
  The number of patients forced to endure mixed-sex wards has risen by 50 per cent in a year, despite Government manifesto pledges to end the practice, official statistics show.Hospitals breached rules which are supposed to put men and women on separate wards on 1,750 occasions in January and February - compared to 1,164 breaches in the same period last year.The official figures follow manifesto pledges in 2010 and 2015 which pledged to eliminate the practice.
  
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• Two Tory MPs reveal CPS is reviewing their election spending

  16-03-2017 20:15
  
  Karl McCartney and William Wragg – have confirmed that files relating to their election expenses are among those that have been sent to prosecutors after a 10-month police investigation into allegations of electoral fraud.Both MPs are understood to have been interviewed under caution by police as part of a series of investigations into whether a string of Conservative candidates broke electoral law by breaching local spending limits.
  
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• Great British Bake Off’s new line-up revealed with Noel Fielding, Prue Leith and Sandi Toksvig joining Paul Hollywood

  16-03-2017 20:13
  
  Because alongside the reassuring presence of Prue Leith, confirmed yesterday as a judging partner for Paul Hollywood, is the inclusion of comedian Noel Fielding.Fielding and Sandi Toksvig will be the new hosts of the show when it returns this summer, filling the roles vacated by Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.Leith replaces Mary Berry.
  
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• Prince Charles and chocolate companies pledge to end deforestation in cocoa industry 

  16-03-2017 20:11
  
  Chocolate is about to become greener after 12 of the world’s biggest cocoa manufacturers and confectioners came together with the Prince of Wales to end deforestation.Cocoa production has largely escaped the criticism levelled at industries like palm oil and beef over forest clearance, but recent reports suggest that it is also contributing to the destruction of rainforest particularly in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
  
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• Jonathan McPhillips murder: Two more arrests after father-of-two stabbed to death in Islington

  16-03-2017 20:10
  
  Two more people have been arrested following the murder of father-of-two Jonathan McPhillips in north London.Mr McPhillips was seriously stabbed and collapsed outside cocktail bar Be At One on Islington’s Upper Street in the early hours of Saturday, February 25.The 28-year-old was rushed to a hospital in east London but died three days later surrounded by his family.
  
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• Watch live: Sean Spicer gives White House press briefing

  16-03-2017 20:09
  
  Watch live as Press Secretary Sean Spicer gives the White House press briefing.
  
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• How a face-lift can aid success (and even help you escape a speeding ticket)

  16-03-2017 20:04
  
  When Sarah Parish, the actress, recently admitted to undergoing a non-surgical face-lift to boost her career, she raised eyebrows.The researchers from Johns Hopkins University say that cosmetic interventions which lift the features to improve appearance may produce a ‘halo effect’ - a phenomenon whereby people automatically view those who are more attractive as virtuous, trustworthy and happier.“Our results reveal that patients after face-lift surgery have improved attractivene
  
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• Lizzie Kelly, first female jockey to ride in the Gold Cup for 33 years reveals how she overcame chauvinism to make history

  16-03-2017 19:57
  
  The first female jockey to ride in the Gold Cup for 33 years has revealed how she overcame chauvinism to make history.At 23, Lizzie Kelly will be the first woman since Linda Sheedy in 1984 to take part in the sport's most prestigious race.Kelly has already broken a record by becoming the first female jockey to win a Grade One jump race in 2015 on Tea for Two, the horse she will be racing on Friday.
  
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• Senate and House intelligence committees find no evidence for Donald Trump's claim that Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower

  16-03-2017 19:56
  
  The US senate intelligence committee has found no evidence to support President Donald Trump's explosive claim that Barack Obama wiretapped him, the committee chair said in a statement.Richard Burr, the Republican senator for North Carolina who is chairman of the committee, and his Democrat counterpart, Mark Warner, issued a brief statement on Thursday afternoon.“Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element
  
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• Volunteer organisations face recruitment crisis as young people can't afford to give up time for free

  16-03-2017 19:51
  
  The average time people aged 25 to 34 spent volunteering has fallen dramatically from 15 minutes a day to six minutes a day, according to figures from the ONS.Professor John Mohan, director of the Third Sector Research Centre, said that the recession meant they could not afford to volunteer.
  
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• Chimp mother filmed cleaning dead body of son in first hint of primate funeral rites 

  16-03-2017 19:48
  
  Female chimp Noel, who lives at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphange Trust in Zambia, was seen using a stem of grass to remove debris from the teeth of a young male named Thomas, who she had looked after since the death of his own mother four years earlier.Dr Edwin van Leeuwen, of St Andrews University, lead author of the study, which was published this week in the journal Scientific Reports said: “Noel approached Thomas’ body, sat down close to his head, turned her upper body sideways t
  
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• 'Policemen without uniform' assaulting citizens in Belarus, protestors claim

  16-03-2017 19:47
  
  Belarusians protesting against their government’s proposed "tax on spongers" have been forcefully detained by men in civilian dress, social and local media appears to show.Men wearing dark hats and coats were seen dragging people into minibuses without number plates on Wednesday evening, according to videos published on Twitter and by Radio Svoboda, a media organisation funded by the US State Department.Twitter users claim that the men carrying out t
  
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• Scotland cannot afford to ignore its deficit | Letters

  16-03-2017 19:41
  
  Bob Floyd suspects that Nicola Sturgeon does not actually want an independence referendum at the moment, but has another intention.Like George Monbiot (Opinion, 15 March), I was distressed when the leave vote was announced last June.Perhaps he is unaware that Scotland now has the highest deficit of all the OECD countries.
  
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• Former marine cleared of murder 'should be freed immediately'

  16-03-2017 19:31
  
  The former marine sergeant Alexander Blackman, whose murder conviction for shooting dead a Taliban prisoner was quashed this week, should be freed from prison immediately, his legal team are to argue.A re-sentencing hearing for Blackman, who was jailed in 2013 for killing an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan, is to take place on 24 March.Blackman has served almost three and a half years in civilian prisons, the equivalent of a seven-year term in terms of parole eligibility.
  
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• Man found guilty of killing one of Britain’s rarest butterflies

  16-03-2017 19:18
  
  A man has been found guilty of unlawfully collecting and killing specimens of one of Britain’s rarest butterflies, the large blue.Phillip Cullen, 57, was spotted armed with a child’s shrimping net chasing the insects at a nature reserve in Gloucestershire and was seen the next day at another prime location for the butterfly in Somerset.When he was challenged by a volunteer at one of the reserves, Cullen claimed he was interested in parasitic wasps and orchids.
  
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• Repeat offender: PM says 'now is not the right time' six times

  16-03-2017 18:57
  
  In the space of just one interview Theresa May says six times that "now is not the right time" for a second referendum on Scottish independence. Video block text
  
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• Tory chairman swipes at reporter's phone when pressed about expenses scandal

  16-03-2017 18:52
  
  The Chairman of the Conservative party, Patrick McLoughlin, on Thursday refused to answer questions about the £70,000 fine the party received for failures in reporting election expenses.The fines follow reports from Channel 4 news that the Conservatives incorrectly recorded spending on bus tours that took activists to campaign in key areas.
  
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• Marine A 'could be free by the weekend'

  16-03-2017 18:46
  
  It comes after five judges at the Court Martial Appeal Court in London ruled on Wednesday that Blackman, 42, was suffering from an "abnormality of mental functioning" at the time of the killing.Blackman's murder conviction was overturned by the panel of judges, headed by Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, and replaced with a verdict of "manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility".
  
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• St Patrick's Day 2017: How to celebrate Ireland's Patron Saint

  16-03-2017 18:38
  
  Erin go bragh! St Patrick's Day is celebrated around the world. But what do we know about the man? How long until St Patricks Day? When is St Patrick's Day?
  
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• Night tube drivers on London Underground to strike in April

  16-03-2017 18:30
  
  Around 200 drivers were hired to work on the night tube, which launched in August 2016.Drivers on the night tube are to go on strike next month, less than eight months after London Underground launched its 24-hour weekend service.Members of both the Aslef and RMT unions voted overwhelmingly for industrial action, in a row over fair access to full-time jobs.
  
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• Donald Trump reins in his widely known dominant handshake with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny

  16-03-2017 18:29
  
  Ahead of the annual Saint Patrick's Day holiday US President Donald Trump welcomes Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to the White House on Thursday.
  
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• Donald Trump reigns in his widely known dominant handshake with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny

  16-03-2017 18:29
  
  Ahead of the annual Saint Patrick's Day holiday US President Donald Trump welcomes Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to the White House on Thursday.
  
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• Crime boss Terry Adams says he cannot afford to pay £750k after court told his wife squandered thousands on jewels and flights

  16-03-2017 18:09
  
  Crime boss Terry Adams has said he cannot afford to pay £750,000 his wife squandered thousands on jewels and flights, a court was told.Adams was ordered to hand over the money made from ill-gotten gains in 2007 along with interest on the sum.Since being released, Adams, from one of Britain's most notorious crime families, has paid just £360,000, the Court of Appeal heard on Thursday.
  
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• May sets up battle with Sturgeon as she rejects referendum demand

  16-03-2017 17:59
  
  Theresa May has rejected Nicola Sturgeon’s demands for a new Scottish independence referendum before Brexit, saying “now is not the time” for a vote on the UK’s constitutional future.In a move that suggested the vote could be pushed back until as late as 2021, the Tories said no discussion on staging it could be held until after Brexit was signed at some point in 2019.May’s rejection of Sturgeon’s proposal sets up a battle of wills between the two leaders, but
  
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• Train splashes snow on unsuspecting bystanders in New York

  16-03-2017 17:55
  
  Snow covered the train tracks at the Rhinecliff Station in New York. Bystanders waited for the train to pass by, but it didn't slow down enough and caused a wave of snow to splash them. Video block text
  
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• William and Kate to visit Paris as part of Brexit charm offensive

  16-03-2017 17:44
  
  The Cambridges arrive in Paris on Friday.The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit Paris this week as goodwill ambassadors for Britain ahead of the triggering of article 50.It will be Prince William’s first official visit to the French capital since his mother died there.
  
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• Maybot stuck on repeat as Sturgeon lets rip over referendum

  16-03-2017 17:31
  
  Nicola Sturgeon and Theresa May were in complete agreement that there would be no immediate referendum.“Now is not the time for a second independence referendum,” said Theresa May, tilting her head to one side like a patronising Princess Diana and fluttering her eyelids over the shoulders of ITV’s Robert Peston into what she imagined was the hearts of the Scottish people.Over in Holyrood, the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, was only too happy to agree.
  
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